Mary e



(No Model.)

M. E. THOMPSON. HAIR HEAD DRESS OR WAVE.

No. 276,306. Patented Apr. 24, 1883.

N. FEIERS. Phumuxhn n her, Walhingtun. D. c.

,UNIT D STATES MARY E. THOMPSON,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

.HAIR HEAD-DRESS OR WAVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 276,306, dated April24, 1883.

Application filed October 17, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARY E. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of NewYork,have invented a new and useful Im provement in Ladies Head-Dressesor Vaves, not heretofore known; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, exact, and clear description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings as a part of this my specification.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the under side or back of saidhead-dress or wave. Fig. 2 is an upper or top view of the same. Fig. 3is a view of the-frame or spring A without any hair attachment thereto.

Likeletters indicate like parts wherever struction of ladieshead-dresses or waves, and

is to be worn upon the forward or fore part of the head, either as aprotection to the natural hair, or for the concealment of real orfancieddefects in the hair of the wearer, or to obtain some effect to the eyenot capable of beingproduped by any arrangement of the natural hair ofthe wearer, yet at the same time to he so natural in its appearance asto escape detection, or excite anysuspicion of an artificial addition tothe natural hair of the wearer.

I am aware that head-dresses or waves have been designed or patenteddesigned to show the natural parting of the wearer withoutfoundation-lace parting, but believe that all attempts have beenfailures, and none of them have had in thelr construction a spring of mydescription in any respect.

In all ladies head-dresses or waves as now constructed the greatdiflicultyin making them appear natural and inartificial has been soarranging them as to represent the natural parting of the hair. The mostsuccessful device heretofore employed for this purpose is to make theparting upon whitelace, which is designed not to show upon the scalp ofthe wearer, the principal example of which is found in my Letters Patentof February 6, 1877, No. 187,198; but I have found by experience thatthis cannot be relied upon with any certainty, as the presence of whitelace can he discovered upon close scrutiny, or upon its becoming soiledor natural parting of the hair.

displaced upon either side of the natural parting in actual use by thewearer.

I will now proceed to describe my invention, so that others skilled inthe art to which it appertains may apply the same.

In the drawings, A represents a continuous spring in a wave open at theforward ends, and should be placed with the center space between thejawsof the spring directly over the B represents the open space between thejaws of the spring. The head-dress or wave may he made ot'either naturalor artificial hair. The wave or headdress is secured or fastened to thespring upon the usual foundation of lace or hair-work, and may be of anydesirable shape, size, or formation, and is attached to thespringin theusual way. No lace or foundation of any kind is between the arms orjawsof the spring A; but the hair is so arranged or extended over or betweenthe? jaws or arms of the spring that it nearly covers the open spacebetween the arms of the spring, and in such manner that the metal,rubber, or celluloid but should be of sufficient elasticity to retainits position when placed upon the head, and of such thinness as not tohe noticeable when the wave is placed upon the head. To. make it moresecure and render it less liable to injury when placing it upon thehead, a hair or fine thread of the same color with the hair of the wavemay be stretched across the open ends of the spring upon which the waveor head-dress is formed or attached. I preferably make this spring withslightly-flaring sides, as shown in the drawings but I do not wish toconfine myself to the exact form shown, as it may be made in severaldifferent forms to accomplish substantially the same result-i. e., thehorseshoe form, or perfectly parallel sides. The spring also shouldbemade to conform to the shape of the'head of the wearer, or of suchmaterial as to conform itself to the shape of the head when so bent.These are matters of (lemore durable, and does away entirely with anytail.

The principal invention or discovery which I here claim is the doingaway with the foundation or lace between the jaws of the spring and thesubstitution or utilization of the natural parting of the hair or scalpof the wearer therefor, as shown in the drawings.

In actual use the hair of the wave covers and hides completely thespring, and extends each side of the arms of the spring so as to blendwith thenatural hair of the wearer, when desired, and discloses only thenatural partin g. This mode of construction is much cheaper inmanufacture and more eft'ective,avoids the diflicult and tedious laborof knotting the hair and lace to form the artificial parting, is muchfalse or artificial appearance.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s-

As a new article of manufacture, a ladys head-dress or wave composed ofnatural or artificial hair, in connection with the spring A, and soarranged, in combination and connection with the spring A, as to formthe open space B, and thus utilize and exhibit the natural parting ofthe hair of the wearer, substantially as shown and described.

MARY E. THOMPSON. Witnesses:

FRANCIS G. BENNETT,

CHARLES D. THOMPSON. 1

